RC-10 Questions

[atariT3]

I have what seems to be one of the first RC-10's to come out, a lot of the peices have been switched around excpet the tranny and chassis, is there a way to tell for specific details that one could tell if it was an original RC-10 from 1984?

What's the difference between the original RC-10 of 1984 and the RC10CE?

2. Newer models of associated cars have anti-squat, did the aluminum chassis cars have any anti-squat adjustments?

3. Does anyone know what issues of RC car action they specifically went over setups and tips of the RC10 aluminum chassis cars (before the B2). Does anyone know any magazines or sites that go over the original RC-10 six-gear cars?

[Hairball]

Hey Jeep, post a pic of that perfect RC10 you have so this guy can see what the original looks like.

Anyone got a GOOD pic of the RC10CE?

[SteveP]

I'm pretty sure it's in the Classic RC Forum.

[jeepinator]

Yes, I have a pic in that thread.
I will post it here too, just 'cause I am a nice guy ;)

http://www.theshreves.com/pics/6010a.jpg

[ 08-05-2001: Message edited by: jeepinator ]

[KIWIRCGUY]

Hey Jeep nice old ride!! Is that the pre Stealth model? I had an old RC10 with the ball bearings on the outside of the spur, I broke the diff though. Stripped out on of the gears, so it was only a 1 wheel drive. I still have that trans here in my bits and bobs as a reminder :D

[malici]

I may be wrong but i think the RC10CE had a stealth tranny.

Malici

[Hairball]

Check this out, I actually have a RC10CE original catalog. (not the car, just the catalog, hehe)

New Features

-Wide track front suspension arms
-Zero-offset front kingpins and stub axles
-Longer travel, high progression front shocks and tower
-Turnbuckle tie rods and links
-3 degree rear toe-in blocks
-New 3-peice low profile rims and tires (no gluing required (these are the 3 screw dish style, not the open style that the orignal RC10s had)

It also came with #6173 Protech II updated buggy body and a high down force wing, 5 1/2".

Still had the gold anodized chassis, nose plate, and shocks. The black chassis and hard anodized shocks came with the TEAM kit.

The Stealth Tranny was only included in the Team kit at the time. The RC10CE came with the orignal POS six-gear tranny (which I still have on mine. *sweet*)

Hope that answers your questions.

[atariT3]

The RC-10 I have has had major overhauls. I replaced the offset kingpins when they broke, got a new world's bulkhead, new team shocks all the way around, 2.0 rims with 4-rib XTR in the front and Bow-ties in the rear. The former owner had new front a-arms put on and new shock towers. The chassis is the most jacked chassis I've ever seen, it's got holes everywhere to lighten it and it's scraped so bad there's barely any gold on the bottom. The front plate hass been trimmed like the Worlds so there's less material and the front where it says "AE" has been grinned awayso just the mounting holes for the support braces are there. the back was cut off so that a Blue eagle LS tranny could be installed but I got a Grafite chassis extender on it so it meets the motor mount plate. It's got CVD's, technacraft titanium all the way around. It's still got th original 6-gear tranny but one side has the THOR 48 pitch gear option, other side is the standard 32 pitch inside. Hug ball bearings are there where the bushings use to support the outdrives. The top shaft has been severed half-way on the threads but an extender thing I building for it will let it operate normaly again. It has special lighten slpiier rings from an on-road car but they're old and kinda worn. 48 pitch gears replace the 32 pitch-48 tooth gear I got it with, that's right, 48 tooth, I ran a 550 with an 18 tooth pinion on it, thing hualed but burned up motors a lot, one cought on fire. It's totally dyed black, every part. The A-arms have been lightened. The only things that are original are the tranny, rear A-arms, and the very scratched chassis. I was trying to determine wither it was orignal, the former owner said it was when I got it in peices but I was hoping there were ways I could tell exactly ow old it was by the tranny, chassis, or A-arms. It has bearings in the tranny too. Is there a way to tell the difference between the RC10CE tranny to that of the original RC-10? I's show a picture but I have a sucky Web TV.

[Hairball]

The biggest thing that would tell you which one it was is the frong A-Arms. If they are like the ones in the pic that Jeep posted, then congrats, you've got a very old school RC10. If they are more like what you'd see on buggys of today, you've probably got a RC10CE (or something close to that).

Mine is setup like it was in 1984 when I got it, has most of the original peices (dyed black because replacement parts only come in black now). If you've got the original rims, AE no longer makes tires to fit them, but duratrax makes some that do, I plan on getting a set for mine. I'm pretty sure you can order a Viper body from AE still. Its the last body they produced for the aluminum chassis RC10s.

Do you have an ESC in yours? Or the really really cool resistor type mechanical speedo?? I've still got mine, but I'm missing one of the mounting brackets, so I don't use it. I need to replace the bushings in the tranny with bearings because they gotten so sloppy over the years.

You can still find gold chassis in pretty good shape on Ebay if you want to replace your scratched up one. And AE is selling some neon green ones at pretty good prices.

Anything else you'd like to know about RC10s?

[QUAKE&SHAKE]

Any of you guys ever get the monster conversion for the RC10?
I did that and waaaaay back I won a few races im the MT class. :)
My chassis looks like swiss cheese too AtariT3

[Hairball]

You guys know that the weight difference between the aluminum chassis and the newer graphite chassis is like an ounce or less?

AE told me in an email that they switch because chassis tweak is a problem with aluminum, where graphite "pops" back after bad crashes.

[atariT3]

Thanks for your feedback, it's appreciated. I have some setups sheets from associated, I'm going to use the standard setup. Does anyone know if any of 8 versions of RC10's before the B2 had any options or settings for anti-squat (R/C car Action, July 96, p.48 if you're wondering about the 8 versions of RC10's)? Does anyone disagree with the standard setup sheet from associated for the RC10?

[Hairball]

I'd just try to set it up as close as possible to a good B3 setup. The design has changed, but the principle is still basically the same. You can't do things as drastically as you can on newer cars, but you can get it close.

[SparkyT3]

Hey Guys!!! The LHS in St. Louis is having a clearance sale/ Clean out the back room sale. They have a WHOLE box of old RC10 parts. They are all WHITE parts for the most part! I have a RC10CE that I built when I was Twelve with the Stealth Tranny and I have virtully rebuilt it with all the parts they have there. If you need something tell me and I will see if I can help!!!

Do you think it would be realistic to try to race my rc10ce aginst the new B3's I would like to get it on the track but is seems too slow. It could be the gearing to it. I just rebuilt the tranny and I need to rebuild the Diff in a big way.

What kind of 2.0 rims can I put on it that will fit? or should I upgrade to 2.2? I need to replace all Rubber and rims. Suggestions????

I think it is cool that you guys are all into retro cars I look forward to getting this one Racing and on the track with your help!

[Hairball]

RC10s can still be competative, bat have problems with fast corners. They just dont have the "bite" that new cars seem to have.

And gearing is a big part of getting the thing up to speed.

Original six-gear trannys have a ratio of 1:1.9 while the original stealths have a higher ratio of 1:2.25

The new B3s and XXX cars use 1:2.4 so just do a little math and try to get close to the final drive ratio. You're going to be pushing the motor a little, but its all good. :)

The suspension is not going to help much either, so playing with different springs rates and shock oils is a must. And unless you want to trash a nice gold chassis, try to get a protective sheet or something for the bottom, or your going to scatch the $(#!@*$!@ out of it. :p

[R390]

I've also got an original RC10 gold chassis. It has all ball bearing and the original 6 gear tranny. Almost every part on it is white except for the parts I replaced with new ones that are black. I got it about a year ago from my brother for free. LOL some of you say its hard to come by an original RC10 buggy but I have one and my brother has had 2 in the past 3 years so it's not that hard. They are some of the fastest cars ive ever seen with the original 6 gear tranny's ratio. I strapped on my 9 turn triple d4 and my cyclone that thing was a rocket!

[atariT3]

I still think the RC10's can be competetive, especially at a local track. Buying a new car won't make you a better driver, I think I can whale on some people who have a B3 or something. The problem with old cars is that they're old, meaning that their parts are worn and beaten up. If you build a car right and maintai it right you can keep up with people no problem. I race my T3 often and the old 10T's and T2's keep up with me fine or better sometimes.

[atariT3]

Sparky T3, On my RC-10 I run team one peice rims and bow ties, really looks sweet in white with my Green Quakerstate Viper body on it. I would try to run the rims sizes they had up to the worlds edition RC10, after that outdrive shaft size changed. don't use those little old 1.6 or 1.9 rim sizes they had though, unless it's gonna sit on the shelf.

[SladeHayes]

Oh man... I felt old when I saw that photo of the old RC-10. Damn, I remember building mine with the old school 2 part instructions that used to come with them, one packet of just photos, and the other was all of the text, with the corresponding number for the photo book.

Yeah mine had a resistor speed control, the white parts, the stock tranny, and the bad body and wing that came with them.

Here is what I can remember for the set up:

If you can find an old stealth diff out there, get it, that is the biggest thing that will hamper the car. The original diff is allright, but nothing compaired to the stealth. The hot setup for the old 6 gears was to have the idler gears replaced outdrive gears with the outdrive shaft machined off, so you had a fully metal tranny. THAT was bullet proof, but the thing used to rust like hell.

The original suspension arms are much shorter than the current set up on most cars, and will make the car a good deal more squirrly. I believe that the CE or the Worlds car had different arms. Look for those, as I am pretty sure that they will fit the old chassis. You may also have to get the longer shock shafts. We used to drill EVERYTHING out on the old chassis that was not structurally integral to the car. If you could dremel it out, or file it down, you would...and I have a few old gold 'pan' chassis out in the garage that look like I shot them with a machine gun.

The ani-squat is adjusted by putting shims or washers under the front screw of the rear suspension arm mounts on the chassis. Also try the forward and rear position for the mounts also. It slightly changes the wheel base, but I cannot remember what effect it has on the setup.

As for setting it up like a B3, that is like trying to set up a 1983 indy car with the set up for a 2001 indy car. In theory, the setups are the same, but in practice, the cars probably don't have any of the same suspension geometry, nor do they have the amount of adjustments. The b3 is far more flexible than the original RC-10, and you can adapt the same ideas, but not the same settings to the cars. And I am not really sure how a short travel suspension car would do on modern off road tracks.

I wish that I still had all of my old RC magazines, as I would be more than happy to scan and post the old 'hogue' chassis, that had the trailing arm suspension that was the rage for a while. I am glad that finally died. Thanks for taking me back to the old school...it makes me happy for what we currently have.